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Tattoo
'' |image= |series= |production=40840-125 |producer(s)= |story= Larry Brody |script= Michael Piller |director=Alexander Singer |imdbref=tt0708975 |guests=Henry Darrow as Kolopak, Richard Fancy as Alien, Douglas Spain as Young Chakotay, Nancy Hower as Ensign Samantha Wildman, Richard Chaves as Chief, Kaiyoti as Native Scout and Joseph Palmas as Antonio |previous_production=Persistence of Vision |next_production=Cold Fire |episode=VGR S02E09 |airdate=November 6, 1995 |previous_release=(VGR) Persistence of Vision (Overall) Rejoined |next_release=Cold Fire |story_date(s)=Unknown |group="N"}} (2372/2344) |previous_story=Little Green Men |next_story=Starship Down }} Summary Leading an away team to an uninhabited planet, Chakotay comes across a familiar symbol drawn on the ground. He has a flashback and remembers seeing a similar symbol drawn by his Native American tribe on Earth when he was a young boy. Tuvok attempts to question him about it, but he is reluctant to discuss it with him. He tells Captain Janeway about his discovery, though, and the two of them find a warp trail leading away from the moon to a planet. They decide to investigate, both to pursue the mystery of the symbol and because the planet contains useful minerals. Efforts to reach the planet are inexplicably hindered. Isolated storms form instantly when the crew tries to beam down by transporter, and when they take a shuttlecraft, more intense storms develop, making approach difficult. When they finally touch down, Neelix (Ethan Phillips) is attacked by a hawk and must be transported back to the ship. Chakotay has further flashbacks, and remembers hiking through a rain forest on Earth with his father in an attempt to locate their ancestral tribe. As a teenager, he had been unreceptive to the experience, telling his father that their heritage is unimportant and that they should embrace the 24th century rather than focusing on their past. The Voyager away team discovers structures similar to those that Chakotay and his father discovered on their journey. Chakotay believes that they are being watched by the local inhabitants, and orders the away team to lay down their weapons, to make it clear that they are not a threat. He recalls his father doing the same thing, upon which the primitive Rubber Tree People his father was seeking emerged from the forest. A storm appears from nowhere, and the crew are forced to beam back to Voyager. Chakotay loses his comm badge and is trapped on the surface. He dons some native clothes that he finds on the ground and goes searching for the inhabitants of the planet. Meanwhile, Captain Janeway decides to land Voyager to search for their missing commander. As with the shuttlecraft, a storm forms as they begin their landing sequence. The storm quickly grows to cyclone strength, setting Voyager on an uncontrollable crash course. On the planet, Chakotay slips through a lightning barrier to enter a cave for shelter and is confronted by the local population. They bear the same tattoo as Chakotay, who explains that he wears it in honor of his father as his father did before him. The locals describe how they gave a gift to Chakotay's ancestors to protect and care for the planet, but believed them to have been eradicated by other humans. Thus, the "sky spirits" believed Voyager's true intentions were to seek out and destroy them and had been responsible for the various storms encountered. Chakotay convinces them that humans have learned from their mistakes and truly came in peace. They dissipate the storm around Voyager mere seconds before the ship would have crashed onto the planet. For the first time in his life, Chakotay feels a connection to his people. In a minor sub-plot, The Doctor wants to prove to the crew that mild illnesses do not have to inhibit work. He programs a simulated flu for himself as to act as an example to the rest of the crew. However, Kes programs it to last longer than he is expecting, in order to prove to him that people who are sick deserve sympathy, and he becomes a terrible patient, begging for the rest of the crew to look after him. Errors and Explanations Internet Movie Database Character error # After Ensign Wildman leaves Sickbay, Kes chides the Doctor for his lack of showing compassion and tells him that he doesn't know what it's like to "feel pain" or to "be hurt", but in Star Trek: Voyager: Projections, he clearly felt physical pain on several occasions, and even suffered injuries. That was likely part of his delusion, and probably something he decided not to mention to Kes. Plot holes # When Neelix is attacked by the "hawk", Commander Chakotay has Neelix transported back to the ship. Only moments before did they take a shuttle craft due to the inability of the transporter to lock onto a location. While Tuvok correctly surmises later that this is due to the aliens' attempts to keep Voyager's people away, and that attempts to leave would not be hindered, Chakotay has no way of knowing this when he calls for the beam-out. He probably made an educated guess. # They couldn't beam down but used a shuttle craft to land. Then beamed out after finding Chakotay. What happened to the shuttle craft? Surely they couldn't afford to leave it. Nor would the inhabitants appreciate that. It could have been transported out. Nit Central # DonnaL on Monday, March 06, 2000 - 3:53 pm: I liked the episode, but I would have liked it more if the Central America Rubber Tree people didn't have forehead/nose ridges. So were they supposed to be pure-bred aliens? I don't get that. And why did the "Sky Spirit" guy in the Delta Quadrant say they couldn't find any of their people when they visited earth a few generations ago? Jwb52z on Monday, March 06, 2000 - 4:53 pm:''You should remember that all the Indian tribes moved off Earth to avoid destruction of their customs. The aliens probably didn't know where to look for them. ''DonnaL on Tuesday, March 28, 2000 - 10:46 am: Right, but Chakotay's Father took a group back to Central America and found remnants there of the original tribe. Why couldn't the "Sky Spirits" find that same Central American tribe that stayed on earth? Seniram 12:43, December 27, 2017 (UTC) Maybe that tribe had died out? # Why didn't Chakotay know at least some of the ancient language. Sounded like his tribe spoke it all the time. Seems like he would have picked it up as a child. His ability to speak the ancient language could have been lost due to lack of use. # Palandine on Tuesday, April 03, 2001 - 8:10 am: Chakotay says here his father died fighting the Cardassians. However, in a later episode (season 6 or 7), doesn't he say his dad had the crazy gene and went insane? margie on Tuesday, April 03, 2001 - 11:39 am: Maybe his dad went crazy & then went to fight the Cardassians? JasonDanielBoxer - 03:21, March 9, 2019 (UTC) This is his grandfather, not his father https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/The_Fight_(episode)#Act_One) Notes Sources Category:Episodes Category:Voyager